


Praeteritum, Praesens, Futurum.

by kj_graham



Series: Sastiel Love Week 2o2o [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU: High school teachers, Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi-Slow Burn, other characters to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23539042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kj_graham/pseuds/kj_graham
Summary: Castiel Novak and Sam Winchester have both been teachers at East Bunker High School for years now. And, well, Castiel has already written his own history book headline for the current situation...“Male in his prime continually fails to attract desired mate due to bad interpersonal skills and constant misunderstanding.”For the theme "AU" for Sastiel Love Week.
Relationships: Castiel/Sam Winchester
Series: Sastiel Love Week 2o2o [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692472
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19
Collections: Sastiel Love Week 2020





	Praeteritum, Praesens, Futurum.

When Castiel goes down to the lobby after first period, his heart drops. 

He’s chaperoning the trip to the nearest museum, which has a special Latin language exhibit and some other history exhibits, including a WWI exhibit which would be useful, as he’s just finished that unit with his students. 

But he apparently forgot to see who the other teacher is that’s chaperoning for the thirty-odd high schoolers. 

And now he’s screwed, he’s so screwed…

The other chaperone hasn’t turned around yet, busy speaking with a student, but Castiel would recognize him anywhere.

His fellow field trip chaperone is none other than Mr. Winchester. And not the Mr. Winchester who teaches algebra.

No, this is Sam Winchester. He teaches Latin. His classroom is one hallway over from Castiel’s. He has stupidly perfect, floppy brown hair and very pretty hazel eyes and he’s very tall. Taller than Castiel, which is impressive, considering Castiel is six feet. And Sam always dresses so nice, in these flattering button downs that make it clear how muscular his arms are. If only he would open a few buttons…

Okay, so, sue him, Castiel has a crush on a coworker. It’s not uncommon. In fact, it’s not even uncommon for Sam in particular, who has plenty of admirers. A couple students seem quite smitten with him sometimes, and the school secretary Ms. Rosen is noticeably infatuated.

Here’s the thing, though; Castiel has always tried to steer clear of Sam to keep from making a fool of himself. Not that he hasn’t already done that...the number of awkward break room conversations they’ve had is frankly just astonishing. Should be written in the history books. “Male in his prime continually fails to attract desired mate due to bad interpersonal skills and constant misunderstanding.”

Ah, Castiel has reached the bottom of the stairs. And now he’s in the lobby and a student just said hello. There’s no backing out. Tell his parents he at least didn’t hate them. 

At the sound of someone saying Castiel’s name, Sam’s head whips up and he excuses himself from the students he’s been talking to, and now he’s turning around and walking over to Castiel, oh GOD, and he’s got this lovely smile on his face and his dress shirt today is this gorgeous dark wine color that really complements his skin tone, and look at those dark wash jeans, someone PLEASE help him, oh GOD, he can’t be fantasizing right now!

Sam’s in front of him now, warm puppy smile still firmly in place. “Morning, Mr. Novak,” he says brightly.

Castiel nods in what he hopes isn’t an awkward fashion, but probably is. “Good morning, Mr. Winchester.”

“Ready?” Sam asks. His tone is practically jovial. “All of mine are accounted for.”

Ah. Right, attendance. Castiel offers another awkward nod and then mutters something close to “ah, yes, attendance,” and leaves Sam for the moment to go wrangle his class.

Attendance is taken without any hiccups. They board the bus and Castiel realizes suddenly that it’s customary for faculty chaperones to just sit in the front. The museum is twenty minutes away. He has to survive twenty minutes enclosed in a vehicle with the object of his affection while surrounded by high school students that are just excited to miss class and could probably care less about the museum.

Oh, if his brother Gabriel saw him now...Castiel can just see him having an aneurysm, gesturing wildly, hissing “TALK to HIM, Cassie!”

Castiel is spared the first minute or so. They both greeted the bus driver when they got on, and now Sam is having a joyful little conversation.

But Castiel’s luck doesn’t last. Eventually Sam sits back in his seat as they pull out of the school parking lot and leaves the bus driver to his business. Castiel is practically praying that Sam will just stay silent for a while, will give Castiel some time to attempt to gather his scrambled thoughts and try to fortify his already-fraying nerves, but...no.

“So,” Sam says, turning to Castiel. That damn smile could light up the Empire State building. “You been to this museum yet?”

Oh no. Oh NO. Small talk. Castiel is GOD AWFUL at small talk even with people he knows well and doesn’t want to KISS. 

He’s looking at you. He’s WAITING. Dear Lord, say SOMETHING! “Uh, no,” Castiel says. 

“I haven’t been in a few years,” Sam says. “Went to check it out when I first moved here, but never went back. It’s a neat little place. Plenty of history, I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Castiel’s ENTIRE brain is short circuiting. “Yes.”

He probably should….add to that. “And I take it you’re enthused about the Latin exhibit?”

Castiel hadn’t thought it possible, but Sam’s face lights up even MORE. “Oh, yeah! I don’t usually see a lot of lang exhibits, and whenever I _do_ come across one it’s either not Latin or it’s like three states away or something ridiculous like that. Plus, it’s nice that this one is one I can take my class to.”

Castiel nods. He’s a little starstruck by Sam’s clear excitement. “I was certainly pleased to see a World War I exhibit. We’ve just finished that unit, so it’ll be interesting for the students to see artifacts in person.”

“Absolutely,” Sam says, and then starts rambling about Latin and about students and about teaching.

Surprisingly, the bus ride feels very short. In no time at all, they’re pulling up to the museum, and Castiel almost isn’t nervous anymore; Sam’s energy is infectious, and he’s so easygoing that Castiel can almost forget about being awkward, even if Sam is the man he’s been drooling over since the day the Latin teacher joined the faculty.

They enter the museum. They’ve decided on the bus that they’ll split into two groups, and they organized these randomly on the bus, combining their attendance lists. One group will go with Sam and see the Latin exhibit first, then the WWI exhibit, then work their way through some other exhibits before regrouping for lunch and a short note-taking activity. Meanwhile, Castiel will take the other group, and they’ll go to the WWI exhibit first before heading to the Latin exhibit, the rest of the museum, lunch, note-taking activity.

Castiel is almost sorry to part ways. He would have given almost anything to witness Sam’s enthusiasm in the Latin exhibit.

The day runs fairly smoothly. Castiel’s students ask some really insightful questions in more than one exhibit and no one causes more trouble than too loud of a voice. 

Of course, the entire day can’t be perfect. After lunch, Castiel and Sam are in the process of regrouping for the note activity, out in the museum’s courtyard, and while Sam’s just about to start talking, Castiel trips over something as he stands up. It might have been the leg of the table or an uneven brick. But he trips in just the right way and starts to go down. Their students are already starting to ask if he’s okay, while Castiel is just bracing to hit the ground.

Except...he doesn’t. He hits someone else. And then he’s looking straight at a wine-colored dress shirt, caged around the waist by two very solid, very warm arms, and Castiel’s heart just about explodes out of his chest. 

Sure enough, he looks up to Sam, who’s awkwardly smiling at him. Sam releases him as soon as it’s clear Castiel’s regained his balance, and the whole thing doesn’t last longer than a couple of seconds. But that’s a long time to someone who’s been craving any amount of touch from the person who caught them for years now.

“Sorry,” Castiel offers, trying to ignore the now-gossipy chatter of their students behind them. 

Sam waves it away. “No problem. You alright?”

“Yes, I...I tripped.”

“Yes,” Sam says, mouth now quirking as though he’s trying not to laugh. “I saw.”

Castiel practically zones out through the students’ activity, which just involves recording observations and questions. He’s too busy imploding. He was just _in Sam’s arms._ Granted, it was to save him from face planting. But still…

And Sam even smells good…

* * *

Much like the morning, Castiel is filled with dread at the prospect of a twenty-minute bus ride cooped up with Sam.

And much like the morning, his worry ends up being unwarranted. Sam carries on conversation easily as if nothing awkward has happened, and slowly Castiel gets over the embarrassment of tripping straight into another man’s arms and just embraces the ease of talking with Sam.

But the real surprise comes after the field trip has ended. The students have all dispersed to go to their final class of the day, and Sam and Castiel are walking to the history and language wing when Sam clears his throat.

“Hey, uh.” He rubs at the back of his neck. For the first time, he sounds almost awkward. Castiel thinks he’s about to talk about their moment in the courtyard, and then Sam starts speaking again and blows his mind. “I was thinking. There’s that big trip for the juniors and seniors to New York City in a couple of months, and I know they’re still looking for chaperones. I, uh, I already signed on, but I was thinking maybe you wanted to?”

Castiel’s brain is, he’s sure, whirring audibly like an overworked PC. 

Sam tilts his head. It’s adorable. Color rises to his cheeks. That’s adorable too. “I mean, it’s up to you, I just...I thought we made a pretty good team, today, so...yeah.”

All of a sudden it occurs to Castiel that Sam is _nervous._ Sam’s asking to spend more time with Castiel in the future, and he’s...nervous.

“Um,” Castiel says, very eloquently. “I...yes. I would like that. I’ll make sure to sign up.”

Sam’s face splits into another megawatt smile, although his cheeks are still stained almost as dark as his shirt. He runs a hand back through his hair. “Alright. Alright, cool. Sounds...sounds good. See you later then.” And then he waves to Castiel and starts down his hallway. 

Castiel is stuck standing there for a moment like an idiot. When he finally manages to start walking to his own classroom, his own face is split into a massive grin.

  
  



End file.
